


Not So Secret Admirer

by BabyShibaPrincess



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fill, and cute ones, kind of, strange happenings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:17:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyShibaPrincess/pseuds/BabyShibaPrincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Cecil keeps sending Carlos love notes. Except, being in Night Vale, they all end up in strange places, like an omelette Carlos orders at a diner, or a replacement light bulb for his lab, or the large intestine of a strange animal he's trying to dissect, etc.' </p><p>Basically, normality is a pretty fluid concept.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not So Secret Admirer

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever prompt fill. I've crossed a new line and there's no going back now. 
> 
> Set before One Year Later and First Date. This can be considered a kind of alternate timeline.

The first time it happened, he probably should have looked more into it. But it was late at night (or, what he was pretty sure was night) and Carlos was in his lab, trying to figure out how there was yet another earthquake that no one had felt.

As soon as the light overhead goes out, Carlos stops what he's doing, listening for scraping and/or the sound of something skittering away (as that's what happened the last few times that light went out), but there's nothing. Silence. So he grabs a replacement bulb from next to him, where he's been keeping them lately and, using the scant light that's coming from various pieces of equipment around him, starts unscrewing the old bulb. The light hadn't been on that long, so the bulb is cool enough to hold in his hand as he stands on his tiptoes and screws in the new one.

He decides to take a look at the light bulb before getting rid of it. Everything is normal except for the fact that there's something inside the bulb. Carlos looks closer at what seems to be a crumpled piece of paper. It's hard to tell. Which is why he decides to just throw it out and get back to work, ignoring the usual odd noises that grace his lab.

____

The second time it happens is even more odd, if that's possible. It's been a few days since the last incident. Now it's early morning, and Carlos has been awake for awhile now. The strange dreams that have been plaguing him every Thursday and Saturday have suddenly changed schedule, so there's no hope of sleeping for now.

He's trying to make coffee, because as tempting as it sounds to try and get some sleep now (maybe the dreams will only happen at night), he doesn't want to mess up his sleeping schedule. So far, more strange things have been happening in town during the day, and he wouldn't want to miss anything by not being awake.

But as he pulls out the old coffee filter, something about it feels different, like there’s something else other than coffee grounds in it. He takes it and shakes it out out into the trash. Stuck to the filter there's a soggy piece of light purple paper that's... Folded into some shape that looks like a heart. And not the kind of heart you'd find on a Valentine's Day card. An actual heart. Whoever folded it must be great at origami, because even if the shape is soggy it's quite easy to recognize.

Carlos peels the paper from the filter and lets it drip coffee for a minute before deciding to try and unfold it. There are splotches of black bleeding through the paper, but when he unfolds it that's all there is. It must have been ink, he realizes. It looks like there were words on the paper at one point, typed in some computer font (of course, there's still the ban on pencils and paper), but the water must have washed most of them away. He throws it out, but he can't help the feeling that he may have seen his name on it, smudged across the top of the paper.

He decides not to make coffee.

____

The next day he runs into Cecil, who's looking at him like he's expecting Carlos to say something. Carlos just gives him the usual friendly smile, and remembers that he hasn't been listening to the radio that often lately. Cecil seems to look confused at the lack of conversation, but Carlos doesn't stay to ask him about it.

____

That night Carlos is down in his lab again, dissecting some kind of opossum. It was laying outside his front door, dead, the last time he went outside. It reminded him of how a cat would leave dead birds in a yard, and normally he probably would have just moved it (it happens all the time here), but this animal had two heads and more than enough legs, so he decided to check it out.

Which is where he finds himself presently, removing the animal's viscera and looking for anything out of the ordinary. He hasn't had any luck yet, but he's hoping to-

Carlos blinks a few times, almost not believing his eyes. Maybe he's just sleep deprived, or there was something in the water he drank today, but he's pretty sure it's there. Another note, which he figures was lavender colored before blood had soaked into it, but it's definitely a note. He closes his eyes for a good few seconds to see if it goes away, just for good measure, but it's still there when he looks again.

There's no use trying to read it. It'll be the same as the coffee soaked note, except disgusting. (Well, it depends on the coffee.) He just decides to clean up after that. Whatever there was to find, which was probably nothing, isn't worth it now.

____

By now Carlos is getting paranoid. He's not sure who's trying to contact him, if they're living or dead, or if he should have read the first note just so he'd have some idea of what's happening. Every time he opens or moves something he's expecting another note, but nothing has happened for almost a week now.

He's in his car, pulling a piece of gum out of the pack he has (it's become a habit now, as he finds it keeps his mind off of the nervous twitch he's developed). Except instead of gum, underneath the foil wrapping is a note that's been folded to fit into the wrapper. He holds the paper in his hand for at least a minute, just staring at it. Finally he starts unfolding it, taking a deep breath before reading the type.

'Dearest Carlos,

I know someone like you is probably very busy, but I wonder if you have the time to meet sometime. We could talk about science if you want. Even a call would be great. As long as I get to hear that wonderful voice of yours. Though it would be even better if you and I could talk face to beautiful face. You could even stop by the station again if you'd like to. Except this time I hope it won't be due to some great danger you think we're all going to be in. But, anything is good as long as I can see you and your hair, which happens to be perfect. It really is. We could even go out sometime, as I know of all of the good places to eat around here. The ones that have exits, of course. But it's all up to you.'

And signed, actually signed at the bottom is 'Love, Cecil'. Carlos wonders how he could do that without using a pen, if that’s even possible, but only for a few seconds before realizing what the note means.

He finds himself smiling, and he thinks that maybe he might even actually be blushing. Most of all, he's relieved that it was just Cecil sending him the notes, and-

Oh. Cecil is sending him love notes, isn’t he? No wonder he looked so surprised when Carlos said nothing about it. He hopes he didn't hurt Cecil's feelings. But then again, he probably would have stopped sending them if he thought Carlos was ignoring him.

Carlos contemplates calling him, but then again, he'd rather talk about it in person. He heads to town to do what he was originally setting out to do, which is get more light bulbs, because the last two times they stopped working there were no notes inside them and Carlos could have sworn he'd heard some new noise along with the usual skittering. If he happens to see Cecil, well. That would be great.

___

He doesn't see Cecil that day, but he heads out again the next day, hoping to find him. He’s hesitant to go to the station, but if he needs to he will. Morning comes and goes, and so does some of the afternoon, before he drives past old woman Josie's and the car lot and spots Cecil there. Carlos is dissuaded from going much closer to old woman Josie's, because he thinks he's been seeing some kind of faces looking out her windows. But luckily, Cecil is leaving, heading back to his own car. Carlos figures he was asking her questions, but it really doesn't matter. He gets out of his car, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched. He's ready to say something to catch Cecil's attention, but Cecil sees him before he can say anything.

"Carlos," he says, a smile spreading along his face, "What brings you out here today?"

"I, uh," Carlos starts, "I wanted to ask you something." Cecil's smile falters a little, so Carlos says, "Something personal."

"Oh?"

"Well, I got your letter- your note. I got it." He must sound like an idiot right now.

"You did?" Cecil asks, "I was hoping you would. Is that why you're here?"

"Sort of. Well, actually, yes. I am. Just, first I want to make sure that it was definitely you who sent them."

"Yes."

"All those times?"

"Yes," Cecil sounds confused.

"But, how did you even do that?" Carlos asks.

"I did what anyone would do. You know, you're asking some strange questions."

"Could you maybe just explain it to me. I mean, what you did?"

"Well, I put them in my toaster overnight, with instructions to get to you. And you received them." Carlos tries not to look too perplexed. "But," Cecil whispers, "I'll admit that the signature was a personal touch. And I haven't been caught yet, so I'm very pleased."

"Alright."

"Well? Are you interested?"

"Interested in- oh. Well, um, at the moment I'm very busy," he says, "But, maybe I could make time somewhere in the near future. For a personal call. Or something else." There, it isn't a rejection and it isn't a definite yes. Carlos just needs some time to sort a thing or two out. But Cecil seems to be happy with that, because he's positively beaming.

"That's wonderful!" Cecil says, clasping his hands together, "I can't wait to tell my listeners this amazing news. Oh! And did you like what I wrote in the second note I sent?"

Carlos stutters out a quick, “Y-yes,” and hopes Cecil doesn’t ask him anything else. He doesn’t want to disappoint him.

“I’m glad you did,” Cecil says, and it almost looks like he’s smirking.

Carlos smiles, "Good. Um, just, maybe don't send any more notes. You can call me if you want to contact me."

"Of course," Cecil replies, "I wish I could stay and talk, but I do have to get down to the station. After all, I wouldn't want to provoke Station Management again."

"Okay. We'll keep in touch," Carlos says, and gives Cecil a quick smile before getting into his car. He’s a little bit confused and a little bit happy. Okay. More than a little bit.

As he's driving he thinks that maybe he'll listen to the radio tonight. And maybe he'll get in contact with Cecil soon.

After all, Cecil might be strange, but he might just be a good kind of strange, Carlos thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to request anything at candycoatedavalanche.tumblr.com!


End file.
